Field of the Invention
This invention peertains to an improved trailer jack which has structure for raising and lowering a full diameter spare wheel and tire alongside of a trailer tongue, and to a method of storing and carrying a full diameter spare wheel and tire.
The Prior Art
Trailer jacks are quite old and well known. They typically have a raising mechanism which is fastenable to a trailer tongue, a vertically movable post of some type, and a manual crank or ratchet mechanism. Castor wheels or flat plates are common on the bottom end of the jack post.
The typical castor wheel is an all steel wheel or all rubber tire or metal wheel and rubber tire mounted on a corss-pin shaft in an inverted U-shaped castor. These wheels are all typically of small diameter, for example 4 to 6 inch diameter, and they have a multitude of shortcomings. These small castor wheels typically have load carrying capacity of less than 1,000 lbs. These small wheels are virtually useless on dirt or in mud and they bury themselves in hot asphalt driveways. Further, they are very difficult to castor and these small wheels hang up on the smallest of obstacles, and they hang up in cracks, dips and steps of hard surfaces. These small wheels are virtually useless on medium and heavy weight trailers. These small wheels normally are not removable from the trailer jack and they serve no other function. They are too small to be used as a spare tire and wheel for the trailer and/or the tow vehicle.
Carrying a spare trailer tire is also a problem. Most people throw spare boat trailer tires into the boat or carry it in the tow vehicle. Either way it is a nusiance.
It's quite easy to see what a problem spare wheels and tires are for trailers. A person merely has to count the disabled boat trailers on the side of the highways on Sunday evening when people return home.